Date: Sat, 4 Apr 2020 04:09:28 +0000 (UTC) Message-ID: <1851285523.22567.1585973368311@[]> Subject: Exported From Confluence MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_Part_22566_256571892.1585973368309" ------=_Part_22566_256571892.1585973368309 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: file:///C:/exported.html FHIR Rules for Asking Questions

FHIR Rules for Asking Questions

Many members of the FHIR community generously give th= eir time for free, answering other implementer's questions on various socia= l media forums.

Some of the forums in which FHIR Community Members are regula= rly available:

Please note, however, that this is all provided by volunteers= .

If you're going to ask a question, please take note of the fo= llowing guidelines:

  1. Be specific - provide enough information for someone who might answer t= he question to actually do so
  2. Be clear - what are you asking for?
  3. Don't ask questions that can be characterised as 'please do my homework= for me' - you'll get better answers when when your question is very focuse= d
  4. Show that you've done a bit of work yourself - indicate what you've rea= d or where you've already looked (at minimum, reading or searching the spec= ification and searching is encouraged)
  5. Please don't ask questions on multiple forums at once. Just ask on one,= and wait at least a business day before trying another one. Someone usuall= y responds more quickly than that, but all of us have a life

By the same token, responding to others who ask questions is = encouraged. You don't need to be an "expert" or a member of any particular = work group. Answering questions is a good way to build credibility within t= he community and to give back. That said, there are some guidelines here to= o:

  1. Only answer questions when you're relatively confident that you know th= e answer to
  2. Try to distinguish when you're asserting fact vs. opinion
  3. If you're not completely confident in the answer, don't be afraid to in= dicate that
  4. When possible, provide references into the specification or other autho= ritative specification to back up what you're saying
  5. If someone asking a question has identified an area where the specifica= tion is unclear or could be improved, encourage them to submit a change req= uest - this helps broaden the pool of those who are working to improve the = specification and also increases a sense of ownership

See also Stack Overflow Question Guidelines

Why are you here?

Mostly, you'll end up at this page if someone referred you he= re. That means that they think your question (or maybe your response) didn'= t meet these guidelines. That doesn't mean you can't ask the question or re= spond, but it does mean you might want to try harder to not take the servic= e for granted.